Samsung expecting $7.7B in profits for Q1, up 53%

Samsung has announced an expected first-quarter profit of $7.7 billion, an impressive feat to say the least. While this estimate is higher than analyst predictions, it breaks Samsung's string of five quarters of record profits. This projection is down slightly from Q4 of 2012 when Samsung posted $8.3 billion in profit.

Part of the explanation of lower profits comes from the fact Samsung is on the cusp of releasing the next Galaxy device. Similar to how Apple always suffers the quarter before a new iPhone, Samsung has customers who are likely waiting for the latest and greatest to come out.

We'll know the actual numbers for the first quarter on April 26. That happens to be three days before Apple reports its earnings.